Carbonating apparatus



Feb. 11, 1930. P. w. SHIELDS CARBONATING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed Dec. 20, 1926 INVENTOR Feb. 11, 1930. P. w. SHIELDS 1,746,873

CARBONATING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 20. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nwsu-rpn Patented Feb. 11, 1930- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK W. SHIELDS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 MCKENNA BRASS & MANUFACTURING (30., 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA CARBONATING APPARATUS Application filed December 20, 1926. Serial No. 155,875.

sweet water with water which has been car-' bonated substantially to saturation. It is practically impossible in carbonators of the usual type to bring water to any condition except that of saturation, and the mixing of sweet water with saturated water makes it possible to secure a liquid having any desired degree of under-saturation. This can be done with far more accuracy than is possible where it is attempted to under-saturate water in a carbonator.

It is important to know the degree of under-saturation which is to be secured in the product. I therefore provide a water supply to the carbonator and a bypass conduit around the carbonator, and utilize a single means for controlling the flow of water to the carbonator and through the bypass. This single means is preferably a three-way valve and indicating means is provided thereon. This indicating means cooperates with a scale, is direct reading, and shows the percentage of water passing through the carbonating apparatus.

Preferably, the bypass is provided with a throttling means which offers a resistance to flow through the bypass comparable with the resistance encountered by water passing through the carbonator. This eliminates short circuiting through the bypass and also makes it possible to provide a valve having ports more nearly the same size, thus simplifying the valve itself and eliminating a possible source of stoppages.

Preferably, the sweet water is supplied to the controlling valve from a degasifier. Thus, the water supplied to the carbonator and to the bypass is substantially deaerated. In the ordinary carbonator supplied with aerated water a certain amount of air is displaced from the water when the carbon dioxide is absorbed. This aircontaminates the carbon dioxide above the water level so that assuming that the gaspressure in the carbonator is kept constant, the partial pres- "sure, due to carbon dioxide, becomes progressively lower and therefore the amount of carbon dioxide contained in the water as it leaves the carbonator is less than the desired amount. It is therefore preferable to use deaerated water, and more accurate results can thus be obtained.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the present preferred embodiment of my invention,-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a car-- bonator to which the invention is appplied;

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken through the three-way control valve;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the control valve showing the indicator; and

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line IVIV of Figure 2.

Figure 1 illustrates a carbonator which follows generally the construction more speeificially described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 669,684, filed October 20th, 1923.

Sweet water is supplied to the apparatus through a concuit 2 which terminates in a chamber 3 having a valve port in the lower portion thereof. The water passes through the valve port to a deaerating chamber l containing pans 5 which insure that the water will be spread over a large area to assist in degasification. The pressure within the chamber is maintained at a low figure by an air pump 6 connected to the chamber l through a conduit 7having a regulating valve 8 therein, a check valve 7 in the conduit? prevents increase in pressure within the chamber by air flow back through the conduit 7. A float 9 is provided Within the chamber, and this float actuates a valve 9' and thus controls the rate at which water enters the chamber 4 through the conduit 2.

The water is deaerated in the chamber 4 and is then supplied to a conduit 10'by a pump 11. This pump is of the difierential type so that there is always an outward pressure on the packing, thus preventing any ingress of air. The conduit 10 terminates in the main control valve which is indicated generally by the reference character 12. A conduit 13 leads from the control valve 12 to the carbonator. The water first passes through a Venturi-like device let surrounded by an annular gas chamber 15. Carbon dioxide gas under pressure is supplied to the annulus 15 through a conduit- 16. The conduit draws carbon dioxide gas from the chamber of a regulating valve 17. The valve'prope'r, indicated at 18, is controlled by a spring loaded diaphragm 19 and regulates the amount of gas which is supplied through a conduit 20. v

A check valve 18 in the conduit 13 prevent-s flow of saturated water from the mixing chamber 21 to the storage chamber 29 through the conduit- 36 when the pump is stopped.

The firststage of carbonation occurs within the vicinity of the restricted portion of the Venturi member 14. The partially carbonated water then passes through a conduit portion 21 of increasing cross-sectional area. As it flows through this conduit its velocity is, of course, reduced and its pressure is increased. This puts the water in condition to absorb additional. carbon dioxide which is supplied through a conduit 22. From the conduitportion 21 the carbonated water ad-' vances through a conduit 23 to a mixing chamber 24 containing mechanically rotated. paddles 25. The carbon dioxide gas is supplied to the chamber 24 through a branch 26 of a vconduit 27 leadingfrom theinlet valve 17. H

The apparatus above described is effective for carbonating: the water substantially to saturation, and the saturated water leaves the chamber 25 through a conduit 28 and flows to a storage chamber 29 from which it may be taken off as desired through an outlet pipe 30. The conduit 2'? terminates in the storage chamber 29 and thus maintains the proper pressure condition therein. A as reservoir 31 is placed in the system so as to make certain that the desired pressure will be maintained in the storage and carbonating chambers. It will be seen that if a large quantityof water is suddenly withdrawn from the storage chamber 29 it would likely be impossible for the valve 18 to supply carbon dioxide gas to the apparatus fast enough to prevent a material pressure drop. On'the other hand, if it is desired to make a beverage having only a slight degree of carbonation, of if the storage tank is well filled, there might be a material increase in pressuredue to the presence of a large amount of gas in a relatively small space.

I have indicated diagrammatically at 32 a hollow ball mounted on a counter weighted arm 33 and connected to the storage chamber 29 through a flexible conduit 31. This de vice controls an electric switch which starts' or stops the pump 11 and tends to hold the water level in the storage chamber between the desired limits.

The apparatus above described is elfective for carbonating water substantially tosaturation. In order to secure an under-saturated liquid I provide a bypass 36 which extends therein. This plugis open at its small end and communicates with the conduit 10. The plug is provided with ports 10 and 41. With the plug in the posltion shown in Figures to 4, the port 40 permits waterto flow through an opening42 in the valve casing and thence to the conduit 13, while the port 41 permits the water to flow through an opening 43 in the casing and thence to the bypass conduit 36." i

The plug 39 is provided with a stem44 which pro ects through a packing gland 15 and is squared at the end to engage a valve:

handle 46. The handle 46 carries an I in'di eating dial 47 which cooperates with a pointer 48 secured tot-he ,valvecasing by a screw 49.

Vith the valve plug in the position shown in Figures 2 to 4:, the flow through the'car' bonator and the bypass conduit 36 will be' substantially the same because of the resist! ance provided in the conduit 36 byfthe r'e striction 37. It'wilLbe noted from Figure?) that the' pointer 48 indicates that 50 percent of thewater is passing through the conduit 13. The other positi0n's, marked to-indicate the percentage of water passing through said conduit, are also shown on' this dial.

It is found that if' the water is supplied from the bypass 36 to the conduit;38 suflicient mixing takes place and the liquid in the storage tank 1s of uniform under-saturation throughout. It Wlll of course be understood that if desired the bypass may be connectedtoother points at the outlet side of" the carbonatoro For example, it maydischarge direct into the storage chamber. The degree of under-saturation may be "maintained very accurately.

I have illustrated a preferredembodiment of theinventi'on' as appliedto a particular form of carbonator. It will be understood,

however, that the invention is not limited to the form shown as it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Carbonatingapparatus includinga deaerator, a ca-rbonator having an inlet adapted to receive sweet water from the deaerator and having an outlet for carbonated water, and a bypass having one end connected to the system between the deaerator and the carbonator and having the other end connected to the carbonator outlet.

2. Carbonating apparatus including a carbonator having an inlet for sweet water and an outlet for carbonated water, a bypass around the carbonator, and a three-way valve for controlling the flow of sweet water through the carbonator and through the bypass.

3. Carbona-ting apparatus comprising a carbonator having an inlet for sweet water and connected to a storage chamber whereby it supplies carbonated water to said storage chamber, and a bypass around the carbonator whereby sweet water may be supplied direct to the storage chamber.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

PATRICK W. SHIELDS. 

